CBS Sunday Morning runs 'Inside the Secret World of the Freemasons' piece again (August 3, 2014)

(CBS News) The Square and Compasses are among the traditional tools of stonemasons. They also form the symbol of a group that has been misunderstood and even maligned for many centuries. This morning, Mo Rocca takes us inside.

True or false? The Masons are a secret society. “No. That’s false,” said UCLA history professor Margaret Jacob, one of the world’s leading experts on Freemasonry.

True or false? Freemasonry is a religion. No, said Jacob.

True or false? Masons were behind the American Revolution. “False, false, false,” she said.

“Okay, but what about on the dollar bill? The eye and pyramid?” asked Rocca.

“Oh, yeah, the eye, yeah,” said Jacob. “Everybody says it’s Masonic. In fact, it’s commonplace in the 18th century, that particular set of symbols.”

True! Freemasons laid the cornerstone of America — well, at least some of its most iconic structures, like the National Cathedral in Washington and the Statue of Liberty.
9 things you didn’t know about Freemasonry

So what is Freemasonry? Simply put, it’s the world’s oldest and largest fraternity. Its membership is a Who’s Who of world history — George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Winston Churchill, Mozart, Davy Crockett, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Houdini, Gerald Ford, Henry Ford, John Wayne, even Colonel Sanders.

If you want to be a Mason, you can petition a local lodge for membership. You’ll need to demonstrate good character and belief in some sort of Supreme Being. Oh, and in almost all lodges, it’s men only.

Next, you’re up for a vote, explains former New York State Grand Master James Sullivan. “The lodge votes to accept you, and then you have your three degrees that you go through.”

Once you earn “the third degree” (and yes, that’s where the phrase comes from), you can join any number of Masonic off-shoots.

Take Brent Morris. He’s a 33rd degree Mason and a historian at the House of the Temple for the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite of the Southern Jurisdiction. (It’s that big building in Washington, D.C.)

“This isn’t like the Masonic Vatican, but it’s an important building,” said Rocca.

“It’s an important building, absolutely right,” said Morris. “It’s one branch of Freemasonry in the United States, and that’s our headquarters.”

The Archbishop of Lisbon, Cardinal José da Cruz Policarpo, never ceases to amaze. In an interview last summer with the monthly magazine “Ordem dos Advogados” in which he spoke about female priesthood, he aired his views once again, this time on Freemasons. On this occasion, however, his views seem to be shared by the Vatican […]

Today the Guardian publishes for the first time what we believe is a unique photograph. It pierces the wall of secrecy which surrounds one of Britain’s most mysterious organisations by revealing a large gathering of London policemen wearing the white gloves, embroidered sashes and lambskin aprons of the worshipful order of freemasonry.

Somewhat lost among all the commentary about what the Pope had to say about homosexuality in that press conference, is his passing reference to another ‘lobby’ that may or may not be at work in the Vatican.

Meeting in Protestant Church is assessed differently - During the Protestant Association for Philosophical Questions (EZW) is the transfer of the church partly questionable, it defends the parish council

Cincinnati has long appeared to have a revolving door between the Masonic lodges and the Catholic Church. Having grown up there, I can recall discussions of various people who were both in Knights of Columbus and Masons, and rumors of parishes that were pagan experiments. People talk, and that sort of talk happened way before […]

Potentially as damaging as the cost over-runs are the claims made by critics like military analyst Winslow Wheeler that the F-35 is a “virtual flying piano” that lacks agility and is grounded far too often for maintenance.

Earlier this year, Rorate Caeli ran a report on Bishop Luiz Demétrio Valentini, Bishop of the Diocese of Jales in Brazil giving an address at the 53rd anniversary of the Masonic Lodge "Colonel Balthazar" in Jales. (In the picture below, he is the one not wearing a tie.)

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